My Virtual Lover

Live 10: Anthony Sloan, the Unlucky Gentleman

In another city…

The frilly blonde young man walks along with the tables with a wooden tray. A cup of coffee is ready to be served on top of it. His dashing look makes him visible for anyone to be attracted to his handsome figure, even if he’s only wearing a simple white t-shirt with a brown apron with the writing ‘Good Cup’ on his apron.

The woman gazes at him, looking at him lustfully due to his slender figure and enchanting fingers. He notices their gaze as he shifts his head toward the customers he has just served, he smiles politely at the woman who sits on the corner. They’re all muttering to each other afterward, a flush crept into their faces when the man smiles kindly at them out of nowhere.

“It is uncommon to find a handsome young man such as you in Jogja after all”, his aunt shows up from the kitchen, carrying a bowl of omelet rice to the counter. “You’re one of our selling points, Anthony! Remember that, and be proud of it!”.

“Geez, you’re complimenting me too much, aunt May” he laughed awkwardly as his ocean eyes gazed downwards. “They just like me because I look like a foreigner, you know”.

The curly-haired auntie elbows him playfully, telling Anthony to be confident with his looks. Anthony smiled bitterly at his aunt, knowing that she meant well. Nevertheless, he doesn’t feel good about his looks, since the majority of Indonesian people seem to think highly of foreigners. Sometimes those expectations and stereotypes cause him to feel strange with himself.

Anthony snaps out from his overthinking, he slaps both of his cheeks as he looks at the bowl of omelette rice his aunt prepared on the counter, there’s the table number on the receipt. Anthony takes the order to seemingly a couple on a date. The two of them wear similar clothes with the symbols of male and female.

“Excuse me, here is your order! One omelet rice bowl!” Anthony put the rice bowl gently on the round wooden table.

The couple nods simultaneously, thanking Anthony for his speedy delivery to them. Anthony leaves the table, somewhat thinking of the past as he strolls through the customers’ tables. The sight reminds him of his ex-girlfriend, a part of his heart aches for her betrayal. It was a sorry sight for him, especially that the fateful separation happened on Valentine’s Day.

It was ironic, but there’s nothing he can do to her, so she decides to break up just like that. She left a deep scar in his heart, but the man was simply a pacifist at that point. His ocean gems glance at the cafe’s wooden ceiling, thinking as if his life was simply full of bad luck from the beginning.

“Hey! What are you going!?” Anthony accidentally bumps into someone while he stares at the ceiling of the cafe. A customer's child falls down on his bottom first while sobbing quietly.

The young boy’s bottom hit the wooden floor, surprised by the collision with the tall young man before him. Anthony glanced at the woman behind the boy who had yelled at him earlier. He apologizes for multiple times as he helps the boy get up from the floor. He tells her that he was unfocused, hence he bumped into her child by accident.

“I’m sorry, are you alright little one?” the young man asked the fallen young boy.

The young boy nods slightly, telling him that he’s not injured anyway; he’s simply surprised by his tall stature. Anthony gets that saying a lot since his father’s statue is tall, a foreigner’s blood is ingrained inside his body after all. However, due to his dashing appearance along with his tall figure, he finds himself in a difficult situation, especially with women.

He gets flirted with by the strangers around him sometimes, subtly though; not very aggressive, but still troublesome. Despite his dashing appearance, Anthony is a shy and reserved person at best. He’s introverted, but he can maintain his social skills well above the surface. He’s suave and smooth, thus his dating experience is something he can show off proudly.

However, he doesn’t feel accomplished at all after he remembers how his past lovers somewhat end up tragically due to misfortunes that befall the other party's family. Sometimes, he thinks that perhaps he’s the cause of those misfortunes along the way. After apologizing, he returns to his work mode.

His aunt summoned Anthony to the kitchen, telling him to cook something for the next customers while he let someone else become the waiter. Anthony scans the silvery kitchen interior, their cleaner cleans the place

Anthony cooked the next order, a cheeseburger hamburger that someone ordered. He picks the ham from the freezer, letting it cool for a bit. Anthony has always been the cafe's backup cook, his cooking skills are beyond his aunt's.

“Alright, focus on your task!” his aunt slapped his back from behind in a friendly way. “Let’s show off your cooking skills now!”.

“I won’t disappoint you”, Anthony nodded in confidence.

* * *

As the clock needle hits eight, Anthony stretches his arm upwards in the kitchen. The wave of customers died down a bit, he was then called by his aunt to handle the cafe’s official email.

She has been in contact with a freelance graphic designer through email. Her aunt hopes that someday Anthony can take the job more seriously so that he can manage the cafe when they’re not around. Anthony tilts his chin and doesn’t seem to understand what his aunt implies.

“You’re a hard worker Anthony, you understand how to run a cafe, cook, and make a beverage” she smiles at Anthony. “I hope that you can run this cafe, we’re planning to rebrand the cafe”.

“Rebrand? That sounds amazing, Aunt May”. Anthony widens his grin. “So what are we going to do?”.

“You can start by emailing her about the logo design! Since you’re young, I think this job suits you fairly well!” she nods, agreeing. “Why don’t you give it a try? The email is jurycrawford@planetmail.com”.

“Eh?” Anthony was quite taken back by his aunt’s word, he was given the authority to rebrand their cafe into a new one. “Are you serious about this aunt May?”.

Aunt May washes the dishes while explaining her plan to expand her branch to another city, in this case, Anthony’s homeland, which is in Bali. She was planning for Anthony to take care of the other branch, thus she gives the rebranding work to Anthony.

“I’m counting on you, Anthony” aunt May smiles while her hands are still on the dishes. “I believe that you could do it”.

Anthony was at a loss for words, it was as if she was entrusted with such a heavy responsibility from the get-go. He was joyful but, at the same time, somewhat stressed from the sudden responsibility from his aunt. Anthony is thankful from the depth of his heart, but his legs turn into jelly.

He can barely stand when aunt May joyfully tells him of her long-awaited plan. He feels honored but pressured. Anthony gulps when he remembers the time he was scolded by his parents. He always failed his parents' expectations. This time he was given such a heavy burden to carry the cafe's reputation on his back.

“We’re still helping you though! Don’t worry about it!” aunt May giggles when she looks at Anthony’s dreamy expression. “I’m sure you’re surprised about this, but after working with you for months, I can see your passion for doing this job! Not to mention you’re diligent as well!”.

“Thank you for trusting the cafe's future to me”, he pulled his apron tiredly. “I am grateful for your kindness, aunt May”.

Anthony’s words of admiration were in contrast with the despairing look on his face. He wanted to know what was inside his aunt’s mind for her to choose him as a successor. He wants her to rethink her choice, but his mother might be upset if he declines such a generous offer from her aunt.

Anthony helps his aunt clean up the cafe, then he goes straight home to his dormitory with his bicycle. He has always fancied riding a bicycle. He had a nostalgic feeling of riding a bicycle to his school in Bali. His father taught him how to do it anyway, he prioritized Anthony’s health above others.

Thus, he suggested Anthony ride a bicycle to increase his vigor and stamina. At that time, a drop of tears fall from his eyes; the memories of his father resurged into his mind like a capsizing wave. He misses his home in Bali, he’s alone in the city of Jogja with no close friends to spend time with.

Anthony sobs a bit as he pedals the yellow bicycle he rides in tranquility, the street lamp flickers as he goes through the busy streets of rural Jogja.

“WATCH OUT!” a loud voice breaks his trance as he cycles on his bicycle.

Anthony snaps out from his overwhelming emotions and looks at his left. A light shone upon him. Behind the headlights appeared to be an old sedan car, heading straight his way. The young man pedals his bicycle faster to avoid being hit by the car but later stumbles upon a rock. He stumbles on the rock and falls on the street. His arm was grazed on the rocky streets.

Blood seeped through the skin of his arm, the half-looking foreigner man panting as he looked at him. The sedan is stopped by the street lights, the outer layer of the sedan is broken beyond comparison. Anthony Ocean’s eyes gaze at the unconscious driver on the front seat, at that time he decides what he’s going to do next.